VZCZCXRO6504
RR RUEHGI RUEHRN RUEHROV
DE RUEHKM #0738/01 1881326
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 071326Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY KAMPALA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1573
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE
RUEHAB/AMEMBASSY ABIDJAN 0120
RUEHGI/AMEMBASSY BANGUI 0067
RUEHMV/AMEMBASSY MONROVIA 0032
RUEHFN/AMEMBASSY FREETOWN 0015
RUEHNJ/AMEMBASSY NDJAMENA 0085
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0115

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 KAMPALA 000738 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL KWMN KOCI AF
SUBJECT: UGANDAN EFFORTS TO COMBAT GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE 
 
REF: STATE 64939 
 
KAMPALA 00000738  001.2 OF 004 
 
 
¶1.  Summary: Gender-based violence (GBV), domestic violence and 
sexual violence are widespread in Uganda, and pose negative health 
risks for women because they put women and children at greater risk 
of HIV infection, sexual infection, and pregnancy.  The government 
has taken significant steps to raise awareness of and improve 
responses to GBV in Uganda, including within its military and police 
forces.  GBV is a systemic social problem that reflects deeply held 
societal norms and gender relationships between men and women. 
Post's responses are keyed to the questions in reftel. 
End Summary. 
 
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Host Country Efforts to Curb GBV in Conflict Areas 
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¶2.  Question a: What is the host country doing to curb gender-based 
violence in conflict areas?  Gender-based violence (GBV), domestic 
violence and sexual violence are widespread, complex socio-cultural 
problems that the Government of Uganda (GOU) is working with United 
Nations (UN) system organizations, USG partners, and civil society 
to address.  Transactional sex and violence against women are two of 
the most common types of GBV in Uganda.  Approximately 48 percent of 
married women age 15-49 in Uganda have experienced physical violence 
from their intimate partners; 36 percent have experienced sexual 
violence, and 49 percent have experienced emotional violence.  GBV 
is widely recognized and accepted among men and women, with 92 
percent of Ugandans surveyed stating that domestic violence occurs 
throughout Uganda.  The causes of GBV in Uganda include poverty and 
unemployment, alcohol abuse, cultural beliefs, "natural tendencies 
of men," and a tendency to blame women for the violence.  These 
problems are particularly pronounced in the post-conflict areas of 
northern Uganda, where a 20-year civil war saw high levels of 
internal displacement and GBV perpetrated against women and 
children. 
 
¶3.  A total of 10,365 sex-related crimes were registered by the 
Ugandan Police Force (UPF) in 2008.  Rape cases totaled 1,536 in 
2008, up from 599 in 2007; of those, 241 cases went to court and 
only 52 resulted in convictions.  The UPF lacks the criminal 
forensic capacity to collect evidence related to the report of 
sexual assault, which makes prosecution and conviction difficult. 
Child sexual abuse is also a problem in Uganda, particularly in the 
post-conflict northern areas, where many children are former 
abductees of Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).  There were 
8,635 defilement cases in Uganda in 2008, which represents a 29 
percent decrease from the previous year, with 4,124 cases going to 
court and 333 convictions.  This means that only 3.8 percent of 
suspected offenders were tried and convicted. 
 
¶4.  Uganda does have statutes under which gender-based violence and 
human trafficking offenses can be prosecuted.  The Penal Code Act 
contains penalties for several sex crimes, including procurement of 
a woman to become a prostitute, detention with sexual intent, sex 
with a minor girl (defilement), and rape.  Rape and defilement carry 
a maximum penalty of death.  These penalties are more severe than 
those for procuring a woman to be a prostitute, which carries a 
penalty of up to seven years.  The maximum sentence for rape is 
sometimes imposed but has not been carried out in many years.  Lack 
of investigative resources and technical capacity in the criminal 
justice system limit effective enforcement of these laws.  Lack of 
reporting also hampers law enforcement and prosecution efforts. 
 
¶5.  There is no national law against female genital mutilation (FGM) 
in Uganda, but President Museveni recently launched a campaign 
against the practice in Nakapiripirit district and Parliament is 
reportedly drafting a law to ban FGM.  Traditionally, FGM has been 
practiced by the Sabiny ethnic group and the Pokot ethnic group 
along the northeastern border with Kenya; however, in 2006, the 
subcounties of Kapchorwa and Bukwo districts passed by-laws to make 
FGM illegal. On October 10, 2008, Kapchorwa District passed another 
by-law that provides for the arrest and prosecution of FGM 
practitioners and collaborators. Various governmental organizations, 
women's groups, and international organizations continue programs to 
combat FGM through education. These programs, which receive some 
support from local leaders, emphasize close cooperation with 
traditional authority figures and peer counseling. In June 2008, the 
UN Population Fund, with the cooperation of local charity 
Reproductive Education and Community Health and the Uganda Muslim 
Supreme Council, organized a seminar in Kapchorwa District to 
educate youth and female leaders on the dangers of FGM. 
 
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USG and Other Donor Programs to Address GBV 
 
KAMPALA 00000738  002.2 OF 004 
 
 
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¶6.  Question b: What programs are being conducted on the ground by 
the USG and other donors to treat victims of gender-based violence 
and to empower women to resist and report rape and sexual violence? 
What programs are particularly effective and what programs are not 
working?   What else can done and what resources are required? If 
funding became available, what programs would be effective in your 
country? 
 
¶7.  The high incidence of sexual abuse and child sexual abuse have 
resulted in increasing transmission of HIV/AIDS and other sexually 
transmitted diseases, increased child pregnancies, early marriages 
and high school drop-out rates.  The U.S. President's Emergency Plan 
for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has launched an initiative to strengthen 
the delivery of comprehensive services to victims of sexual violence 
in Uganda including HIV diagnostic testing and counseling (DTC) and 
post exposure prophylaxis (PEP), pregnancy testing and emergency 
contraception, sexually transmitted infection prophylaxis, and 
treating physical injuries.  The program also strengthens local 
capacity to provide psychological counseling to rape victims, show 
special sensitivity to child and male victims, and establish links 
between police and health professionals to enable incidents to be 
referred in either direction and, if desired, prosecuted in court. 
Primary target populations are women and children victimized by 
sexual violence, those at increased risk of sexual violence, health 
care providers and other victim service providers, and others who 
influence victims' access to services including community leaders, 
police, family members, and others. 
 
¶8.  Additional funding could provide valuable technical assistance 
and training for local law enforcement and judiciary officials, 
which would greatly strengthen their capacity to investigate and 
prosecute sex crimes in Uganda.  Police currently lack the capacity 
to examine and collect forensic evidence from rape victims; without 
physical evidence of the crime, most rape cases are dismissed from 
court and do not result in successful prosecution and sentencing. 
Police, prosecutors, and judges would also receive training on how 
to collect and process evidence, investigate, and adjudicate rape 
and sexual assault cases in court.  Training would improve 
coordination between law enforcement and the judiciary, resulting in 
speedier and more effective trials.  Additional funding would also 
support community policing initiatives aimed at raising awareness 
and encouraging greater reporting of GBV and rape in local 
communities. 
 
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Law Enforcement and Judicial Responses to GBV 
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¶9.  Question c: To what extent are perpetrators of gender-based 
violence being brought to justice by host country law enforcement 
authorities?  If they are not, what are the constraints and what is 
being done to sensitize host country judicial and law enforcement 
personnel to the seriousness of this problem? Have USG-funded 
judicial assistance programs, to the extent that they exist, been 
effective? 
 
¶10.  The Ugandan Police Force's Child and Family Protection Unit 
(CFPU) at the National Police Headquarters monitors sex crimes 
involving women and children and tracks local police efforts to 
rescue women and children from abusive situations.  Inspector 
General of Police Kale Kayihura has initiated widespread police 
reforms that aim to improve respect for the rights of victims and 
at-risk individuals.  He has instituted regular meetings on 
gender-based violence for UPF personnel to sensitize police officers 
on a range of issues, including gender-based violence, domestic 
violence and child abuse.  These in-house meetings aim to reinforce 
the UPF's commitment to protecting the rights of women and children. 
 
 
¶11.  The rights of victims are generally respected in Uganda.  The 
GOU encourages victims of sexual violence to report the crime and 
testify in court, however sex crimes are generally underreported.  A 
medical exam, which can be conducted by a police physician, is 
necessary to provide evidence of the crime.  The police employ few 
physicians due to resource constraints and lack any forensic 
investigative capacity to collect viable evidence from rape victims. 
 As a result, the UPF refers all sexual assault victims to hospitals 
or clinics, and victims of defilement and rape often have to pay for 
their own medical exams.  The cost deters many from following 
through with legal action.  There is also social stigma against 
victims of sexual crimes in some communities.  Other factors 
believed to inhibit reporting and prosecution of sexual crimes 
include fear of retribution, lack of support services, and use of 
 
KAMPALA 00000738  003.2 OF 004 
 
 
alternative restitution procedures.  Many Ugandans feel that 
domestic violence should not be reported outside the family. 
 
¶12.  Victims of sexual crimes, including rescued victims of LRA 
abduction and abuse, are provided with initial care and support to 
assist in their rehabilitation and reintegration into society.  The 
GOU and other donors provide financial, medical, psychological, and 
rehabilitation services to ex-abductees and child soldiers.  NGOs 
and others provide limited additional assistance, including 
psychosocial counseling. 
 
¶13.  Future USG criminal justice sector assistance and training will 
deliver comprehensive police training to the UPF as well as other 
regional police forces from southern Sudan and Somalia.  Assistance 
efforts will focus on enhancing police professionalization and 
capacity building in post-conflict areas, and will include training 
modules on gender sensitization and first response procedures in 
sexual crimes. 
 
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UPDF, UN PKO Troop Sensitization 
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¶14.  Questions d and f: What efforts are underway to sensitize host 
country militaries to issues of GBV and to ensure that sexual 
violence is not being perpetrated by government forces.  Are UN 
peacekeeping missions sensitizing troop contributing contingents 
(TCCs) to the problem of gender-based violence and what efforts are 
being undertaken to clarify the peacekeepers' rules of engagement 
and particularly the circumstances under which they are able to take 
perpetrators of rape and sexual violence into custody. 
 
¶15.  Uganda has 1,700 peacekeepers in Somalia under the African 
Union Mission.  The Ugandan Peoples Defense Forces (UPDF) reports no 
cases of sexual abuse or human trafficking involving peacekeepers in 
Somalia.  Human rights groups in Uganda corroborate the UPDF's 
assertion.  The GOU provides training to its military troops through 
its Child Protection Units, which are included in every unit. 
Ugandan troops deploying outside Uganda receive additional human 
rights training, which includes gender sensitization, elimination of 
sexual exploitation, and prevention of trafficking in people and 
child protection.  On a regular basis, Ugandan soldiers are given 
specific training on the rights of women and children and carry a 
code of conduct, which states that "soldiers must apply and 
reinforce all practical and legal measures to protect children and 
their mothers lives and property before, during, and after 
conflict."  In addition to the UPDF's own training, U.S. contractors 
conduct human rights training mandated by the U.S. Congress for all 
USG-funded peace support operations.  Troops are also trained in NGO 
and IO coordination, HIV/AIDS prevention, refugee and internally 
displaced persons processing, and rules of engagement. 
 
¶16.  UPDF deployed to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in 
December 2008 for "Operation Lightning Thunder" (now Rudia II) 
received refresher briefings on the treatment of children and others 
abducted by the LRA.  Each Ugandan unit that deployed contained two 
to five Child Protection Unit Officers.  The UPDF, the United 
Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Save the Children, and the 
International Organization for Migration (IOM) worked together to 
develop a protocol to protect victims that it had rescued from the 
LRA.  Human rights groups report that there have been no reports of 
UPDF involvement in any human rights abuses, including GBV, in DRC. 
Our training and the Ugandan military's commitment to 
professionalization can be credited. 
 
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Women's Empowerment and Gender Mainstreaming 
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¶17.  Question e: To what extent are women's empowerment, girl's 
education, and shelters and care for victims of violence - to the 
extent that any programs in these issues may exist - being 
mainstreamed into general humanitarian and capacity-building work in 
the region? 
 
¶18.  The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) supports several 
interventions that mainstream the gender dimension into economic 
development, democratic governance, and HIV/AIDS awareness.  UNDP 
works with the GOU Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Development 
to adopt policies for poverty eradication through equitable 
development, implements participatory development projects at 
village level in eight sub counties of eight districts, and trains 
women in business skills and entrepreneurship. 
 
¶19.  UNDP has also partnered with the GOU Gender Ministry and the 
 
KAMPALA 00000738  004.2 OF 004 
 
 
United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) to support the 
Sexual and Gender Based Violence project.  This project promotes the 
creation of a safe protective environment for women and girls in 
post-conflict areas of northern Uganda by encouraging women's 
participation in peace and security matters and strengthening 
capacities for prevention and response to GBV.  Former LRA abductees 
are sheltered, counseled, and taught vocational skills through a 
network of governmental and non-governmental organizations. 
 
¶20.  There are few shelter facilities in Uganda due to the lack of 
resources and the sensitive nature of the crimes.  Most victims take 
shelter with extended family members. 
 
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Engaging Male Leaders at the Community Level 
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¶21.  Question g: What is the host government doing to sensitize male 
leaders at the community level about the problem of gender-based 
violence and to encourage their support of prevention, treatment, 
and accountability efforts within their communities? 
 
¶22.  Most interventions work to prevent violence against women and 
children by addressing men's attitudes and behavior in relationships 
and by engaging them in awareness raising and conflict resolution 
activities.  The Uganda AIDS Commission, Ministry of Health, 
Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Development, Ministry of 
Education and Sports, Communication for Development Foundation 
Uganda (CDFU), various UN system organizations and other NGOs are 
currently implementing Phase II of their Young Empowered and Healthy 
(Y.E.A.H.) "Be A Man" campaign.  The Y.E.A.H. initiative promotes 
gender equality and seeks to empower young men and women to live 
healthy, happy lives in a supportive, protective, and gender 
equitable environment.  It uses multimedia and interpersonal 
communication as well as community approaches to stimulate dialogue 
and action among communities, families, schools, and healthcare 
providers.  The "Be A Man" campaign specifically targets young, 
single men to address social norms around masculinity and gender. 
Phase I of the campaign focused on faithfulness, non-violence, 
couple counseling and testing for HIV and subsequent follow-up care. 
 Phase II of the campaign specifically addresses the issues of 
transactional sex, violence against women, and alcohol.  The UNDP 
SGBV Project also raised awareness of GBV among male community 
leaders and involved them in community responses to GBV, 
successfully improving reporting of GBV to law enforcement 
authorities. 
 
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Donor Coordination 
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¶23.  Question h: To what extent are donor countries coordinating 
regularly with each other, the UN system, and the host government to 
ensure a streamlined approach to combating gender-based violence? 
 
¶24.  The Human Rights Working Group within the diplomatic community, 
which facilitates regular donor coordination meetings, coordinates 
on various human rights issues including gender-based violence. 
UNDP is also working to mainstream gender within the UN system 
response through its Donor Thematic Group on Gender.  The UPF 
participates in regional law enforcement coordination mechanisms 
such as the East African Police Chiefs Organization (EAPCO), which 
includes nine countries in the region and provides mutual legal 
assistance, training, and a forum to discuss trans-national crime. 
HOOVER